Are you proud of the town, city or village in Kent in which you live or work?

I ask because if you read the Facebook groups for local communities across the length and breadth of the county you’d be tempted to think the whole region has become a festering pit of rapid decline.

Knee-jerk reactions pour scorn on every district – from housebuilding plans to the perception of crime levels (every group of youths spotted feared as potential rioters/door-knockers potential burglars). Almost nowhere is safe from the negative publicity we generate for the places many of us hold so dear.

Which begs the question… are we, personally, responsible for creating the negativity which continues to shape the opinions of all and sundry? And not, for example, the cash-strapped councils (starved of funding by central government) who tend to take the blame for everything - the bulk of which is out of their control?

Is it time those who spout all the nonsense on these sites pause before they do so to ponder the damage they do?

Take Medway for example. Now, while many parts are not going to win any beauty awards any time soon, the whole district carries with it a perceived weight of doom and gloom which extends beyond its borders and down to the coast.

Yet, objectively, look at the place today compared, say, to the 1990s.

For an area which had been so reliant on the heavy industry the dockyard brought to it, what did people expect when those jobs were rudely ended when it shut in 1984? Of course there was going to be hardship.

The place needed long-term, root and branch reform. It was always going to take decades. And, while not perfect, for the most part it has achieved it.

Industrial wastelands are today modern communities full of professionals – feeding the local economy.

There is hope, there is opportunity and there’s plenty of places to eat, drink and enjoy your leisure time.

But its reputation precedes it. People of a certain age still perceive it negatively and freely discuss it as such. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but the transformation has been significant and it’s about time people recognise that. The wider picture needs to be absorbed.

The same with Thanet. Decimated by the change in our holiday habits, no one would say Margate was a jewel in the county’s crown 30 years ago. But today it’s hard to argue it isn’t. The whole place has a vibrant energy and enthusiasm. To a level not far off, the same can be applied to Ramsgate. I mean, have you been to the marina recently? It would be hard to come up with a more picturesque or pleasant place to spend a sunny afternoon.

However, mention Thanet to anyone outside its borders and they focus on an outdated view. One that is then reinforced by the Facebook groups which seem to attract those whose full-time job appears to be highlighting negatives or stoking concerns.

Yes, I’m sure if you stroll through these places at closing time then there may be some ugly scenes. But, get this, that happens in Tunbridge Wells too, believe it or not. Just that we don’t slate the spa town from afar because those who live there are famously protective of their town’s reputation. They demonstrate it can work. And never be fooled that just because it has maintained its affluent reputation, the town does not have its challenges and deprivation.

The good folk of Canterbury could do well to take note given its own magnificent surroundings but habit of its population hating on it all the time.

Imagine if, instead of all the negativity, we decided to be positive about the places we live? We could see districts shrug off ill-conceived notions of what they are today, we could not make everyone who lives there anxious.

Unless we make that change don’t expect reputations ever to be changed.